Autodelta

Autodelta's initial purpose was to collaborate with Alfa Romeo on the construction of the Giulia TZ (Tubolare Zagato), a compact gran turismo. The Giulia TZ, built on Giulia's engine and mechanics with a tubular chassis, was displayed at the Turin Motor Show in late October 1962. The few Giulia TZ models assembled achieved success, including wins in their class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Targa Florio, and the Tour de France Auto. The later TZ 2 also saw successes at Sebring, the 1965 Targa Florio, the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, and the Giro d’Italia.

In 1965, Autodelta gained worldwide authority with the lighter version of the new Giulia Sprint GT coupé, the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA. The GTA collected three European Championships and 16 national titles between 1966 and 1967. The GTA 1300 Junior took three continental laurels in the 1300 Class, the European Tourism Challenge in 1971 and 1972, and 14 national titles between 1969 and 1974. The final version, the Giulia GT Am, won two European Championships (1970 and 1971) and dozens of national and international races between 1970 and 1972.

From 1967, Alfa Romeo's ambitions shifted to the World Sportscar Championship. The Alfa Romeo 33 saga began with its evolutions, starting with the first 33 with a two-litre V8. The Alfa Romeo 33/3 featured a V8 engine souped up to 3 litres. The Alfa Romeo 33 TT 12, with its 12-cylinder engine, secured the 1975 World Championship for Makes, winning seven out of eight races. This was followed by the 33 SC 12's victory in the World Championship for Sports Cars in 1977. Autodelta also produced a road-going version, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, between 1967 and 1969.

After success in sportscar racing, the three-litre, 12-cylinder opposing engine from the 33 TT/SC provided Autodelta with an opportunity to return to Formula One. Initially, Autodelta supplied engines to the Brabham team, starting in 1976. The cooperation with Brabham ended in 1979, with a win for Niki Lauda in the Gran Premio Dino Ferrari at Imola. The first Alfa Romeo Formula One car since 1951, the Alfa Romeo 177, debuted at the Belgian Grand Prix on May 13, 1979. Autodelta returned as the works team in 1979 and managed Alfa Romeo's racing programs until the team's withdrawal in 1985.

In 1984, Carlo Chiti left Autodelta. The following year, Autodelta was dismissed. However, the Autodelta logo was later brought back by Alfa Romeo for the Giulia GTA project. In 2023, Alfa Romeo celebrated Autodelta's 60th anniversary by displaying a new celebratory logo on the livery of the C43 single-seater of the Alfa Romeo F1 team at the first Grand Prix of the F1 World Championship in Bahrain.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.